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March 8, 1932.

c:4v c. CHEVNEY AIR WASHER Filed Octv 9. 1929 CHARLES CCHEYNEY PatentedMar. 8, 1932 UNITED STATES CHARLES C. CHEYNEY, F BUFFALO, NEW 'YORK AIRWASHER Application led October 9, 1929. Serial No. 398,531.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that the most effective wayof washing air is to provide wet surfaces over which the air is causedto pass. Heretofore, such washers '5l have been made of stationaryscrubber plates which were kept wet by spray roses or water jets. Thedisadvantages of such a stationarily arranged washer is that numerousnozzles or spray roses with much extra equipment in the nature of pipingmust be provided, and

the minute orifices of the spray roses or j ets become easily clogged,requiring repairs with attendant interruption of operation. Moreover,such stationary washers require considerable space, as well as arelatively great quantity of water to keep their surfaces Wet.

Furthermore, such devices require pumps and outside mechanism to keepthe liquid in circulation. i

It has been an object of my invention to overcome the disadvantagesabove pointed out, by providing a washer having scrubber plates mountedupon a rotating drum and dipping into a water pan, thereby occupying butrelative small space and eliminating the elements which usually causetrouble.

Another object has been to provide a scrubber plate having means formaintaining the surfaces of the plate in a wet condition while they arebeing rotated from the point where they leave the surface of the waterto a point where they are again emersed therein.

Moreover, my device is of such a nature that the air being treated, inpassing through the drum, causes the drum to rotate, without the use ofany outside means.

Moreover, in my device no water circulating means are necessary sincethe scrubber plates are moistened by dipping into the water.

Furthermore, my device is of such a nature that the air is caused topass twice through the scrubber plates, thus greatly increasingtlgeiciency of the device.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the deviceshown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 shows-a side, sectional elevation of my complete device.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, sectional view, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. f

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fra entary, sectional view of one of the scru berplates.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a modliied form 5,. of scrubber plate.

My device is designed primarily to wash air that is drawn through aheating unit. Such a heating unit is shown in Fig. 1 at 5, and comprisesa suitable heating coil 6, through which steam is passed, and a blower 7which takes air out of the casing 5 through an inlet 8 formed at eachside thereof, into the fan casing 9, thence upwardly in the direction ofthe dotted arrows and through an outlet 10 which projects it into theroom being heated. My device is preferably placed below such a heating'unit, as shown in Fig. 1, and comprises a casing 15. The casing may havea solid back wall 16 and an opening 17 formed in its front wall 18. Theopening 17 provides an inlet for the air. The wall 18 extends upwardly,thus forming the front of a water tank 19. The height of the wall 18 ispreferably somewhat greater than the depth of water contained in thetrough. Obviously, if desired, instead of the tank formed by he casing,a separate water pan may be use A washer drum 20 is mounted within the80 casing 15 and is supported by suitable bearings 21 in which the shaft22 of the drum rotates. The drum is preferably provided with an endplate 23 at each end thereof to which are secured the ends of thescrubber plates 24. Each of these scrubber plates eX- tends from end toend of the drum, and each has its longitudinal sides 25 and 26 bent atany suitable angle to each other with the inner apex 27 facing thedirection of flow of the air entering the drum, whereby the scrubberplates form buckets or v anes for the air, so that its contact with suchbuckets or vanes cause the drum to rotate. The side 25 of each scrubberplate is provided with a scupper 28, and the side 26 is provided with ascupper 29. The scupper 28 is formed by a fiange 30 which is arranged sothat it occupies a position in respect to the side 25 which is in frontof this side when the drum is rotating, and

the scupper 29 is formed by a flange 31 which is so arranged that itoccupies a position in respect to the side 26 which is behind this sidewhen the drum is rotating.

A division plate 35 is arranged above the drum and preferably extendsforwardly to the front side of the casing at the top of the opening 17,whereby the air will be directed downwardly and caused to pass throughthe scrubber plates of the drum which are exposed to the opening.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that when the fan 7 is beingoperated, air will be drawn in through the inlet opening 17 of my deviceand will be impinged against the trough-shaped scrubber plates 24 andcause the drum to rotate in the direction of the arrow. After the drumis caused to rotate, the scrubber plates will be drawn through the watercontained in the tank 19, which will cause their surfaces to be Wet andalsovcause the scuppers 28 and 29 to be filled with water. rIhe velocityof the incoming air striking against the side 26 of the plate will serveto retain the water within the scupper 29. The air will be defiectedbetween the surfaces of the adjacent platesand caused to enter thecenter of the drum. After the drum is ro` tated and the side 25 of thescrubber plate 30 reaches a horizontal plane, the water which is held bythe scupper 28 carried by this side will be spilled over the outsidesurface of this side of the scrubber plate and also over the outsidesurface of the side 26 thereof, thus wetting such surfaces. The airafter having entered the center of the drum is caused to move to theopposite side of the drum where it again passes through the scrubberplates. Obviously, the air in coming in contact with the Wet surfaces ofthe plates is cleaned, such cleaning being more eiicient because of thedouble passage of the air through the drum. When the plates are rotatedstill farther, the water carried by the scupper 29 is spilled over theinner surface of the plate, thereby also maintaining this surface in awet condition.

In some cases, it might be that the air passing through the scrubberplates will carry with it drops of water from the underside of the side26 of the scrubber plates, and at the outer edges thereof. In many casessuch drops of Water would be carried up with the air and be deposited onthel heated surfaces. thereby impairing the heating'v efficiency of suchsurfaces. In order to avoid the possibility of such entrained water, Ihave provided an auxiliary scupper 36 attached to the side 25 of eachscrubber plate at a point opposite the scupper 28, as shown in Fig. Il.It will be seen that any solid particles of water which would be carriedup along the inner surface of the side 25 will be caught by theauxiliary scupper 36 and prevented from leaving the edge of the scrubberplate. This scupper is preferably in the form of a U shaped sectionwhich is welded or otherwise secured to the side 25 of the scrubberplate.

While I have referred to water as the liquid for wetting 'the plates, itis obvious that oil or any other liquid suitable for cleaning purposesmay be used. In cases where the liquid used is so viscous that thepassage of air through the device will not create sufficient power torotate the drum, it may be necessary to provide some suitable means ofpositively driving the drum, whichl may be in the nature of any wellknown and common form of motive power or connectionto the motor whichdrives the Wheel of the fan. Furthermore, while I have shown the side 25of the scrubber plate as being provided with a scupper 28 formed by aforwardly turned flange 30, and the side 26 as being provided with ascupper formed with a rearwardly turned flange 31, it is obvious thatthese flanges may be turned in a number of various directions andsomewhat the same results obtained. However, I have found that thearrangement of scuppers shown in Fig. 3 to be the most cthcient. p

These and other modifications of the details herein shown and describedmay be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the appended claims, and I do not, therefore, wish to belimited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the formshown being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the appended claims where I refer to the Washer drum of my device, Imean a drum having scrubber plates which extend from end to end of thedrum, the drum thus being uniform in cross-section throughout itslength, as shown in the drawings. 4

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. An airwasher,kco1nprising a casing, a washer drum rotatably mounted within thecasing, a plurality of scrubber plates carried by the drum, each platehaving a scupper formed at each of its longitudinal edges, each of theplates being formed with two lon gitudinal sides bent at an angle toeach other and having the inner or trough-shaped surface facing theinlet of the device, whereby the air currents passing into and throughthe device will cause the drum to be rotated.

2. An air washer, comprising a casing, a washer drum rotatably mountedwithin the casing, and a plurality of scrubber plates carried by thedrum, each scrubber plate having two longitudinal sides bent at anjangle to each other, the side located toward the periphery of the drumhaving a scupper formed by a flange bent forwardly and in ad-` vance ofthe side in the direction of rotation, the side of the plate toward thecenter of the drum having a scupper formed by a rearwardly turned flangewhich is behind this side of the plate when the'drum is in rotation.

3. An air washer comprising a casing, a washer drum rotatably mounted inthe casing, and a plurality of scrubber plates carried by the drum, eachscrubber plate being 1mperforate and of trough-shape formation andhaving its inner trough-shaped face faclng the air inlet of the device,whereby the air currents, striking the trough-shaped faces of thescrubber plates, will cause the drum to rotate.

4. An air washer comprising a casing, a washer drum rotatably mounted inthe casing, a plurality of scrubber plates carried by the drum, and ascupper formed at each longitudinal edge of each scrubber plate, eachscrubber plate being of trough-shape formation and having its innertrough-shaped face facing the air inlet of the device, whereby the aircurrents, striking the trough-shaped faces of the scrubber plates, willcause the drum to rotate.

5. An air washer comprising a casing having an air inlet and an airoutlet, a water pan arranged in the bottom of the casing, a washer drumrotatably mounted Within the casing, a plurality of trough-shapedscrubber plates carried by the drum and located so as to dip into thepan, and an'auxiliary scupper provided at the outer edge and at thetrailing side of each of the scrubber plates, whereby air passing overthe wet surfaces of the scrubber plates will be washed and entrainedwater will be collected by the auxiliary scuppers.

6. An air washer comprising a casing having an air inlet and an airoutlet, a water pan arranged in the bottom of the casing, a washer drumrotatably mounted within the casing,

ya plurality of trough-shaped scrubber plates carried by the drum andlocated so as to dip into the pan, each longitudinal edge of each of theplates being provided with-a scupper, and an auxiliary scupper providedat the outer edge and at the trailing side of each ofl the scrubberplates, whereby air passing over the wet surfaces of the scrubber plateswill be washed and entrained water will be collected by the auxiliaryscuppers.

7. An air washer comprising a casing, a Water pan located at the bottomof the casing, a rotatably mounted, hollow, washer drum carried by thecasing and so located so that it will dip into water contained in thepan, a partition arranged above the drum, and means carried by the drumfor causing it to be rotated, whereby air will pass into the drum at theinlet side of the partition and be passed out of the drum and into thecasing at the outlet side of the partition.

8. An air washer comprising a casing, a water pan located at the bottomof the casing, a rotatably mounted, hollow, washer drum carried by thecasing and so located so that it will dip into water contained in thepan, a plurality of trough-shaped scrubber plates carried by the drum,a. partition arranged above the drum, and means carried by the drum forcausing it to be rotated, whereby air will pass into the drum at theinlet side of the partition and be passed out of the drum and into thecasing at the outlet side of the partition.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

CHARLES C. CHEYNEY.

